FRATERNAL FILMS

"There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night."

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:06:40 -0700

“There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night.”

- Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus, translation by Justin O’Brien (via frenchtwist)

CIRCADIAN

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:39:39 -0700

circadian \sur-KEY-dee-uhn, -KAD-ee-, sur-kuh-DEE-uhn, adjective:

noting or pertaining to rhythmic biological cycles recurring at approximately 24-hour intervals.

My circadian clock, which puts me to sleep at night and wakes me up in the morning in a regular twenty-four-hour fashion, has a larger arc that seems set at twenty-four weeks.
— Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body, 1993

Even a guard on night duty succumbs to the body’s natural circadian rhythms and would be far from alert.
— Clive Cussler, The Jungle, 2010

Circadian was first used to apply to the “circadian rhythms” of the body, primarily our daily internal cycles of hunger, rest and wakefulness. It comes from the Latin roots circā meaning “about” and di meaning day.

IMPUTE

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:38:45 -0700

impute

PRONUNCIATION:

(im-PYOOT)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To attribute, ascribe, or credit, often unfairly.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old French imputer, from Latin imputare, from in- (in) + putare (to assess, reckon). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pau- (to cut, stroke, or stamp), which is also the source of amputate, compute, dispute, count, pavid, puerile, and catchpole. Earliest documented use: 1480.

USAGE:

“‘There’s a tendency to impute much greater skill on the part of somebody like Jamie Dimon, who is very smooth,’ Bill Miller says.”
Hugh Son; Bank of America Chief’s Tumbles Turn Into Strides; The Washington Post; Mar 10, 2013.

Explore “impute” in the Visual Thesaurus.

ALLOCHTHONOUS

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:38:11 -0700

allochthonous \uh-LOK-thuh-nuhs, adjective:

not formed in the region where found.

The input of plant matter of allochthonous origin contributes energy, nutrients, and substrates in a variety of important ways.
— Thomas F. Waters, “Dynamics in Stream Ecology,” Production of Juvenile Atlantic Salmon, Salmo Salar, in Natural Waters, 1993

However, coals which have formed from plant remains which have been transported considerable distances from their original growth site are known as allochthonous coals, e.g. large rafts of peat or trees drifting on lakes or estuaries.
— Larry Thomas, Coal Geology, 2002

Allochthonous entered English in the late 19th century. It was modeled as an antonym to autochthonous, meaning “indigenous.”

MOTZA

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:35:52 -0700

motza \MOT-ser, noun:

a large amount of money, especially a sum won in gambling.

More profit, higher share price. These people I’ve been talking about own swags of shares. Each share price rise, they make a motza.
— Richard Beasley, The Ambulance Chaser, 2004

Good business to be in. I bet they made a motza out of that.
— Lisa Walker, Sex, Lies, and Bonsai, 2013

Motza is Australian slang that possibly came from the Italian word mezzo meaning “half” or from the Yiddish wordmatzo meaning “unleavened bread.” Regardless of its origin, it entered English in early twentieth century.

"When choosing a career, consider jobs where the idea of a vacation from it repulses you."

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:46:52 -0700

“When choosing a career, consider jobs where the idea of a vacation from it repulses you.”

- Neil deGrasse Tyson (via abandon-everything)

"Sometimes you have to play the villain to save yourself."

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:52:51 -0700

“Sometimes you have to play the villain to save yourself.”

- D. Ouija (via thatkindofwoman)

nprmusic: Happy 65th birthday, Brian Eno! Hear the innovative...

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:36:45 -0700

nprmusic:

Happy 65th birthday, Brian Eno! Hear the innovative artist and producer join All Songs Considered to spin some of the music he’s most passionate about — from the hallowed doo-wop records that caught his fancy as a child to newcomers such as Anna Calvi.

bossypants: end of the tv year

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:31:49 -0700

bossypants:

end of the tv year

heymonster: Someone requested a post of all of the current...

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:02:33 -0700

heymonster:

Someone requested a post of all of the current Strong Female Characters, so here you go.

prints are available here.

quote-book: (via The Reconstructionists: Week Eleven)

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:02:15 -0700

quote-book:

(via The Reconstructionists: Week Eleven)

QUACKSALVER

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:01:46 -0700

quacksalver \KWAK-sal-ver, noun:

1. a charlatan.
2. a quack doctor.

And there was that quacksalver Mellowes again, with his pernicious theory that consumption was caused by an excess of oxygen.
— Patrick O’Brian, Desolation Island, 1978

Anon, we grow persuaded that he traded both eyes for hooks and beneath the roof of his friend, Prince of Hesse Cassel, this Quacksalver expired to the winding from a strange horn one overcast night at Sleswig — and doubt not that at the bar he lifted up both hands to please innocent!
— Evan S. Connell, The Alchymist’s Journal, 1991

Even more outlandish than she is, he thought. “We shall not have her degraded as somequacksalver’s drab.
— Ariana Franklin, Mistress of the Art of Death, 2007

Quacksalver comes from an early Dutch word of the same spelling referring to someone who prescribes home remedies. It is the root of the more common word quack.

EQUIVOCATE

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:01:13 -0700

equivocate

PRONUNCIATION:

(i-KWIV-uh-kayt)

MEANING:

verb intr.: To be vague or ambiguous, especially in order to mislead.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin aequi-/equi- (equal) + vocare (to call), from vox (voice). Earliest documented use: 1590.

USAGE:

“The bishop equivocates and wrings his fat hands and procrastinates.”
Susan Wiggs; At the Queen’s Summons; Harlequin; 2012.

Explore “equivocate” in the Visual Thesaurus.

ENSCONCE

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:00:34 -0700

ensconce

PRONUNCIATION:

(en-SKONS)

MEANING:

verb tr.:
1. To settle firmly and comfortably.
2. To hide securely.

ETYMOLOGY:

From en- (in) + sconce (small fortification), from Dutch schans (entrenchment). Earliest documented use: 1589.

USAGE:

“Vladimir Putin is once more ensconced behind the Kremlin’s walls.”
Not Such a Strongman; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 9, 2012.

Explore “ensconce” in the Visual Thesaurus.

FEMINACY

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:59:57 -0700

feminacy \FEM-uh-nuh-see, noun:

feminine nature.

Educated even to learning, courageous even to a want of feminacy, she delighted to sport with ignorance and pretension, even in the highest places…
— Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, 1837

As they coached her in movements of preposterous feminacy, coaxing her to sit neatly and ease her muscles out of sight.
— Paul West, The Tent of Orange Mist, 1997

Feminacy entered English in the 18th century from the Latin roots fēmin meaning “woman” and -acy, a suffix denoting nouns of quality, such as papacy and legacy.

SNAFU

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:59:27 -0700

snafu \sna-FOO, SNAF-oo, noun:

1. a badly confused or ridiculously muddled situation: A ballot snafu in the election led to a recount.

adjective:
1. Rare. in disorder; out of control; chaotic: a snafu scheme that simply won’t work.

verb:
1. Rare. to throw into disorder; muddle: Losing his passport snafued the whole vacation.

There was no snafu in the five-year plan. There was a deliberate strategy of recycling very-low-grade nuclear waste in building materials.
— Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections, 2001

He’d say it was a snafu, by no means the first, from what I hear. Anyway, no sense in making a fuss.
— Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin, 2000

Snafu is a neologism that originated as an acronym for “s(ituation) n(ormal): a(ll) f(ouled) u(p).” During World War II, soldiers used the phrase to describe the general disorder of war.

MELLIFEROUS

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:58:48 -0700

melliferous \muh-LIF-er-uhs, adjective:

yielding or producing honey.

He writes of the melliferous odor of linden blossoms; of the fields rushing to meet him; of trees, castles and people; of the greensward that serves him as a dining table; and of the little old ladies who joyfully smile at him.
— Mikhail A. Osorgin, translated by Donald M. Fiene, Selected Stories, Reminiscences, and Essays, 1982

Already he had the melliferous taste of victory on his tongue.
— Wilbur Smith, The Eye of the Tiger, 2001

Melliferous derives from the Latin word mellifer meaning “honey-bearing.”

this moi

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:06:21 -0700

this moi

prettygirlfood: Garlic Fries always

Mon, 13 May 2013 01:23:01 -0700

prettygirlfood:

Garlic Fries

always

Photo

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:23:50 -0700